Snow in Huntsville, Alabama.Photo: James ReynoldsNot everyone can have the media savvy of Snooki, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s timing couldn’t be worse: with snow in every state but Florida (yes, even Hawaii), the agency just announced 2010 tied with 2005 as the warmest year for global temperature. And scientists wonder why they continue to see polls like this.

Looking at just the United States it was merely the 23rd warmest year on record, no doubt a factor in the aforementioned poll. A quick glance at NOAA’s 2010 temperature anomaly map revealed the most significant warming not only took place throughout the Arctic, but also across Europe and Africa. Canada, being a country with significant arctic territory, smashed all previous records.

Inverse relationship between Earth’s temperature and Congress’s willingness to do anything about it continues to hold true: Politicoreports the “GOP-led House [is] expected to easily pass a measure to handcuff the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority [to regulate greenhouse gases].”

Meanwhile, Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she will “use every single tool available” to thwart efforts to block EPA climate regulations.

In case you missed it in previous editions of The Climate Post, there continues to be every indication the House Science and Technology Committee is going to probe the “quality” of climate science.

He added, “the decisions we make — or fail to make — in this decade on new energy sources, on education, infrastructure, technology, and research — all of which are going to produce the jobs of the future […] will without doubt determine whether the United States will continue to lead the world — or be left to follow in the wake of others, on the way to decline, less prosperous in our own land and less secure in the world.”

Renewable ramp-up: Solar panels are becoming so cheap they threaten the giant solar thermal developments states such as California are pouring money into, says a new analysis. Even so, investment in cleantech is shifting from production to efficiency. And where will these panels come from? President Obama just signed a law dictating the U.S. Department of Defense must buy American-made solar panels.

Australia’s extreme weather a punch in the gut for coal: Queensland is experiencing flooding of “biblical” proportions, and it’s shut down one of the world’s most important exporters of coal. Draining the mines could take weeks, leading to a surge in demand for U.S. coal.